Handheld electronic device having improved phone call log, and associated method

ABSTRACT

An improved handheld electronic device and an associated method provide an improved call log that presents information relating to logged phone calls in a collapsed manner, meaning that for each phone number having a call stored in the memory of the device, only the most recent in time call is listed on the call log. An improved handheld electronic device and an associated method also provide a call history for any phone call from the improved call log that is selected by the user. The call history includes a listing of all of the calls stored by the device that are associated with the selected call log call.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/939,828,filed Sep. 13, 2004.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates generally to handheld electronic devices and, moreparticularly, to a handheld electronic device having an improved phonecall log. The invention also relates to a method of logging anddisplaying information relating to phone calls placed with and receivedor missed by a handheld electronic device.

2. Description of the Related Art

Numerous types of handheld electronic devices are known. Examples ofsuch handheld electronic devices include, for instance, personal dataassistants (PDAs), handheld computers, two-way pagers, cellulartelephones, and the like. Such handheld electronic devices are generallyintended to be portable and thus are relatively small. Many handheldelectronic devices also feature wireless communication capability,although many such handheld electronic devices are stand-alone devicesthat are functional without communication with other devices.

Many handheld electronic devices include cellular telephonefunctionality. Such devices often store a log of phone calls placed,received and/or missed by the device in what is commonly referred to asa call log. Information contained in the call log may be selectivelyaccessed by and displayed to the user of the handheld electronic device.Such information is useful to the user to, among other things, help torecall if and when a particular phone call was placed, received, ormissed, and to access information about the call such as, for example,the associated telephone number or the name, address or email address ofthe person associated with the call.

Prior art call logs typically display the phone call information to theuser chronologically based on the time and date associated with eachcall, usually beginning with the most recent call first. Some prior artcall logs group and display the logged calls based on the category inwhich the call falls, i.e., a missed call, a received called, or aplaced call. In this case, the calls are still typically displayedchronologically. No effort has been made, however, in the known priorart to group or link together all logged calls that are associated withthe same originating or dialed phone number or contact person so thatthe user of the handheld electronic device can have a contact based viewof phone call history. Thus, with known prior art call logs, if a useris interested in knowing the history of calls associated with aparticular originating or dialed phone number or contact person, theuser must manually search through the chronologically organized call logfor all entries for that phone number or contact person.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An improved handheld electronic device and an associated method providean improved call log that presents information relating to logged phonecalls in a collapsed manner, meaning that for each phone number having acall stored in the memory of the device, only the most recent in timecall is listed on the call log. Another aspect of the invention is toprovide a call history for any phone call from the improved call logthat is selected by the user. The call history includes a listing of allof the calls stored by the device that are associated with the selectedcall log call.

These and other aspects of the invention are provided by a method ofproviding a call log on a handheld electronic device including storingcall related information for a plurality of outgoing and incoming phonecalls, wherein each of the phone calls is associated with a phonenumber, compiling a list of call log phone calls, with the call logphone calls being the most recent stored phone call for each of thephone numbers, and displaying the list to a user of the handheldelectronic device. The list may include call log information for each ofthe call log phone calls that may include one or more of the date andtime of the call, the phone number associated with the call, and acontact name associated with the call. The call log may display thecalls in chronological order, beginning with the most recent call first.The method may further include displaying portions of the call relatedinformation for a selected call log call, such as the date, time andduration of and the phone number associated with the selected call.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the method may furtherinclude displaying a call history for one of the call log calls selectedby the user. The call history preferably includes a listing of all ofthe stored phone calls associated with the phone number of the selectedcall log call.

According to still a further aspect of the invention, the method mayinclude providing a menu of user options to the user for either aselected call log call or a selected call history call. The method mayfurther include performing a function associated with the user optionthat is selected by the user.

According to another aspect of the invention, an improved handheldelectronic device having an improved call log capability is providedthat includes a display, a processor and a memory storing one or moreapplications executable by the processor. The one or more applicationsinclude instructions for performing the various embodiments of theimproved method of proving a call log described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A full understanding of the invention can be gained from the followingDescription of the Preferred Embodiment when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of an improved handheld electronic device inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the handheld electronic device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view of a portion of the display of the handheld electronicdevice of FIG. 1 showing a call log in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting a portion of a routine executed by aprocessor of the handheld electronic device of FIG. 1 for creating anddisplaying a call log in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 5 is a view of a portion of the display of the handheld electronicdevice of FIG. 1 showing a call log and a user option menu in accordancewith the invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting a portion of a routine executed by aprocessor of the handheld electronic device of FIG. 1 for creating anddisplaying a call history in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a view of a portion of a display of the handheld electronicdevice of FIG. 1 showing a call history in accordance with theinvention.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the specification.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

An improved handheld electronic device 4 in accordance with theinvention is depicted generally in FIGS. 1 and 2. The handheldelectronic device 4 includes a housing 8, a display 12, an inputapparatus 16, and a processor 20 (FIG. 2) which may be, withoutlimitation, a microprocessor (μP). The processor 20 is responsive toinputs received from the input apparatus 16 and provides outputs to thedisplay 12. While for clarity of disclosure reference has been madeherein to the exemplary display 12 for displaying various types ofinformation, it will be appreciated that such information may be stored,printed on hard copy, be computer modified, or be combined with otherdata, and all such processing shall be deemed to fall within the terms“display” or “displaying” as employed herein. Examples of handheldelectronic devices are included in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,452,588 and6,489,950, which are incorporated by reference herein. The handheldelectronic device 4 is of a type that includes a cellular telephonecapability which, as will be described in greater detail below, providesan improved call log in accordance with the invention. As used herein,the terms “phone” and “telephone” shall refer to any type of voicecommunication initiated and conducted over a wired and/or wirelessnetwork.

As can be understood from FIG. 1, the input apparatus 16 includes akeyboard 24 having a plurality of keys 26, and a rotatable thumbwheel28. As used herein, the expression “key” and variations thereof shallrefer broadly to any of a variety of input members such as buttons,switches, and the like without limitation. The keys 26 and the rotatablethumbwheel 28 are input members of the input apparatus 16, and each ofthe input members has a function assigned thereto. As used herein, theexpression “function” and variations thereof can refer to any type ofapplication program, process, task, procedure, routine, subroutine,function call, or other type of software or firmware operation that canbe performed by the processor 20 of the handheld electronic device 4.

As is shown in FIG. 2, the processor 20 is in electronic communicationwith memory 44. Memory 44 can be any of a variety of types of internaland/or external storage media such as, without limitation, RAM, ROM,EPROM(s), EEPROM(s), and the like, that provide a storage register fordata storage such as in the fashion of an internal storage area of acomputer, and can be volatile memory or nonvolatile memory. The memory44 further includes a number of applications executable by processor 20for the processing of data. The applications can be in any of a varietyof forms such as, without limitation, software, firmware, and the like,and the term “application” herein shall include one or more routines,subroutines, function calls or the like, alone or in combination.

As is also shown in FIG. 2, processor 20 is in electronic communicationwith communications subsystem 45. Communications functions for handheldelectronic device 4, including data and voice communications, areperformed through communications subsystem 45. Communications subsystem45 includes a transmitter and a receiver (possibly combined in a singletransceiver component) and one or more antennas. Other known components,such as a digital signal processor and a local oscillator, may also bepart of communications subsystem 45. The specific design andimplementation of communications subsystem 45 is dependent upon thecommunications network in which handheld electronic device 4 is intendedto operate. For example, handheld electronic device 4 may include acommunications subsystem 45 designed to operate with the Mobiltex™, DatTAC™ or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) mobile data communicationnetworks and also designed to operate with any of a variety of voicecommunications networks, such as AMPS, TDMA, CDMA, PCS, GSM, and othersuitable networks. Other types of data and voice networks, both separateand integrated, may also be utilized with handheld electronic device 4.Together, processor 20, memory 44 and communications subsystem 45 may,along with other components (having various types of functionality), bereferred to as a processing unit.

In FIG. 1, the display 12 is depicted as displaying a home screen 43that includes a number of applications depicted as discrete icons 46,including an icon representing a phone application 48 and an addressbook application 50. As is known in the art, address book application 50allows the user of handheld electronic device 4 to store information fora number of “contacts,” including, among other things, the contact'sname, phone number, home and office addresses, email address, and otherinformation that may be used to contact the person. In FIG. 1, the homescreen 43 is currently active and would constitute a portion of anapplication. In addition, display 12 shown in FIG. 1 shows a pop-up box52 that indicates that there is currently a phone call coming intohandheld electronic device 4. Pop-up box 52 provides certain informationrelating to the incoming call, including, for example, the caller'sphone number and identifying information if the caller and phone numberare stored as a contact by address book application 50 of handheldelectronic device 4. Other applications, such as the phone application48 or address book application 50, can be initiated from the home screen43 by providing an input through the input apparatus 16, such as byrotating the thumbwheel 28 and providing a selection input bytranslating the thumbwheel 28 in the direction indicated by the arrow 54in FIG. 1.

Phone application 48 stores in memory 44 certain information relating toall outgoing phone calls placed with and incoming phone calls receivedor missed by handheld electronic device 4. The stored information mayinclude, without limitation, the date and time of the call, the phonenumber associated with the call, and the duration of the call. Phoneapplication 48 of handheld electronic device 4 includes routines forproviding an improved call log for providing information to the user ofhandheld electronic device 4 relating to outgoing phone calls placedusing handheld electronic device 4 and incoming phone calls receivedand/or missed by handled electronic device 4.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary depiction of display 12 showing call log 56including a plurality of calls 58 according to the invention. Call log56 displays logged calls in a collapsed manner, meaning that for eachphone number having information relating to a call or calls stored inmemory 44 by phone application 48, only the most recent in time call 58is listed on call log 56. Thus, each individual phone number havinginformation relating to a call or calls stored in memory 44 will have asingle entry in call log 56. Preferably, each of the call log calls 58listed on call log 56 will include the date and time of the call, anicon indicating the nature of the call (i.e., placed, received ormissed), and either the name of the caller or person called if thatperson and the phone number in question are stored as a contact byaddress book application 50, or the phone number associated with thecall if the caller or called person is not stored as a contact. Also,call log 56 preferably lists the call log calls 58 in chronologicalorder, beginning with the most recent call first. As will be describedin greater detail below, a user of handheld electronic device 4 mayselect a particular call 58 from call log 56 and cause a call historyassociated with the selected call 58 to be displayed on display 12. Inparticular, the displayed call history will list all calls, incoming andoutgoing, stored in memory 44 that are associated with the phone numberassociated with the selected call 58. The calls in the call history arepreferably listed in chronological order beginning with the most recentcall (which, as will be appreciated, will be the selected call 58 fromcall log 56).

A flowchart depicting a routine performed by processor 20 for creatingand implementing call log 56 of the invention is shown in FIG. 4. In oneembodiment, the routine of FIG. 4 is initiated and call log 56 iscreated any time phone application 48 is activated by the user ofhandheld electronic device 4, such that call log 56 will be the defaultinitial view provided on display 12 for phone application 48.Alternatively, the routine shown in FIG. 4 may be initiated and call log56 may be created and displayed upon request by the user from some otherportion of phone application 48.

As shown in FIG. 4, the method begins at 100, where processor 20 obtainsfrom memory 44 information relating to the most recent call, incoming oroutgoing, for each phone number that has one or more associated callsstored in memory 44. Next, at 102, a list that includes the most recentin time call for each phone number having one or more associated callsstored in memory 44 is compiled and displayed on display 12 as call log56. As described above, an example call log 56 is shown in FIG. 3. Asused herein, the term “list” shall refer to a compilation of a series ofitems of information one after another that may or may not be in apredetermined order.

Next, at 104, a determination is made as to whether one of the calls 58included as an entry on call log 56 is selected by the user, such as byhighlighting the call 58 using input apparatus 16. If the answer at 104is no, then at 106, a determination is made as to whether the user hasprovided a request using input apparatus 16, to exit either phoneapplication 48 in the embodiment where call log 56 is displayed as thedefault view for phone application 48 or the call log view (and returnto the default phone application view) in the embodiment where call log56 is not displayed as the default view for phone application 48 butrather must be selected by user. If the answer at step 106 is yes, thenthe appropriate exit steps are taken at 108. If the answer is no, thenthe method returns to 102 to continue displaying call log 56.

If, however, the answer at 104 is yes, meaning a call 58 has been chosenby the user, then at 110 a menu 60 of user options 65 is displayed ondisplay 12 as shown in FIG. 5. User options 65 include a number ofdifferent functions of handheld electronic device 4 that may beimplemented by selecting one of the user options 65. As shown in FIG. 5,such functions may include, without limitation, initiating anapplication for handheld electronic device 4 for closing menu 60, forcalling a selected contact stored by address book application 50, forcalling the user's voicemail, for calling the contact listed in call 58,for creating and sending a short message service (SMS) message to thecontact listed in call 58, for opening the call 58 to display detailedcall information relating to call 58 that is stored in memory 44, forcreating and displaying on display 12 a call history for call 58 asdescribed in more detail below, for adding the phone number associatedwith call 58 to the speed dial list maintained by phone application 48,for deleting call 58 from call log 56, for viewing the speed dial listmaintained by phone application 48, for viewing and changing operatingoptions for phone application 48, for viewing status informationrelating to, for example, the duration of the last call, the totalnumber of minutes for all calls, and the phone number of handheldelectronic device 4, for providing help to the user, and for closingphone application 48. Next, at 112 of FIG. 4, handheld electronic device4 performs the function associated with the selected user option 65,whatever it may be.

Referring to FIG. 6, a flowchart depicting a routine performed byprocessor 20 for displaying a call history according to the invention isshown. This routine will be initiated if the “view history” user option65 of menu 60 (FIG. 5) is selected by the user after a particular call58 has been selected. At 114, processor 20 obtains from memory 44 thecall information for all calls associated with the phone number ofselected call 58. As an alternative, if the phone number of chosen call58 matches the phone number of a contact stored by address bookapplication 50, call information for all calls associated with thatcontact may be obtained at step 114. At 116, a listing of the callsobtained at 114 is created and displayed, along with other information,on display 12 as shown in FIG. 7. As seen on FIG. 7, in addition to thelisting of calls, the call history may include, without limitation, thename and phone number associated with the chosen call 58, the nature(i.e., place, received or missed) and duration of the last call, and thenumber of calls included in the history. Next, at 118 of FIG. 6, adetermination is made as to whether a particular call from the displayedlist is selected. If no call is selected, then at 120, it is determinedwhether the user has provided a request to exit the call historyfunctionality. If the answer is yes, then at 122, the method returns to102 of FIG. 4 wherein call log 56 is displayed.

If, however, a call from the displayed list is selected as determined at118, then, at 124, a menu of user options is displayed similar to menu60 of user option 65 shown in FIG. 5. Next, at 126, handheld electronicdevice 4 performs the selected user option, whatever it may be.

Thus, the invention provides a handheld electronic device havingfunctionality for providing a collapsed call log that gives a user acontact and/or phone number based view of the logged calls. In thismanner, the user may readily access, view and request functions for alllogged calls associated with a particular contact and/or originating ordialed phone number.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been described indetail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and alternatives to those details could be developed inlight of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, theparticular arrangements disclosed are meant to be illustrative only andnot limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given thefull breadth of the claims appended and any and all equivalents thereof.

1. A method of providing a call log on a handheld electronic device,said method comprising: storing in a memory call related information fora plurality of outgoing and incoming phone calls, each of said phonecalls being associated with one of a plurality of phone numbers;compiling a list of call log phone calls, said call log phone callsbeing a single one of said phone calls for every one of said phonenumbers for which call related information is stored in said memory,said single one of said phone calls for said each one of said phonenumbers being the most recent in time phone call associated with saidone of said phone numbers; displaying said list of call log phone calls;and when a selected one of said call log phone calls is selected fromsaid list of call log phone calls, displaying at least part of a listingcompiled for the phone number associated with the selected one of saidcall log phone calls that includes every one of said phone calls havingcall related information stored in said memory that was placed to andreceived from the phone number.
 2. The method according to claim 1, saidlist including call log information for each one of said call log phonecalls, said call log information for said each one of said call logphone calls including a date and time of said one of said call log phonecalls.
 3. The method according to claim 1, said list including call loginformation for each one of said call log phone calls, said call loginformation for said each one of said call log phone calls including thephone number associated with said one of said call log phone calls. 4.The method according to claim 1, said handheld electronic device havingan address book application storing a plurality of contact names, saidlist including call log information for each one of said call log phonecalls, said call log information for said each one of said call logphone calls including at least one of the phone number associated withsaid one of said call log phone calls and one of said contact names. 5.The method according to claim 1, said handheld electronic device havingan address book application storing a plurality of contact names andassociated contact phone numbers, said list including call loginformation for each one of said call log phone calls, said call loginformation for said each one of said call log phone calls including:(i) the contact name associated with the phone number associated withsaid one of said call log phone calls if the phone number associatedwith said one of said call log phone calls matches one of said contactphone numbers, and (ii) the phone number associated with said one ofsaid call log phone calls if the phone number associated with said oneof said call log phone calls does not match one of said contact phonenumbers.
 6. The method according to claim 1, said list listing said calllog phone calls in chronological order beginning with the most recent ofsaid call log phone calls.
 7. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising displaying portions of the call related information for oneof the call log phone calls that is selected by a user, said portionsincluding at least one of the date, time and duration of and the phonenumber associated with the selected one of said call log phone calls. 8.The method according to claim 1, each said listing being inchronological order beginning with the most recent of said phone callsincluded in the listing.
 9. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising, when one of said listings is displayed, providing a menu ofuser options for one of the phone calls on said displayed listing thatis selected by said user and performing a function associated with oneof said user options selected by the user.
 10. The method according toclaim 1, further comprising providing a menu of user options for one ofthe call log phone calls that is selected by a user and performing afunction associated with one of said user options selected by the user.11. A handheld electronic device, comprising: an input apparatus; adisplay; a processor; and a memory storing one or more applicationsexecutable by said processor, said one or more applications beingadapted to: store call related information for a plurality of outgoingand incoming phone calls in said memory, each of said phone calls beingassociated with one of a plurality of phone numbers; compile a list ofcall log phone calls, said call log phone calls being a single one ofsaid phone calls for every one of said phone numbers for which callrelated information is stored in said memory, said single one of saidphone calls for said each one of said phone numbers being the mostrecent in time phone call associated with said one of phone numbers;display said list of call log phone calls on said display; and when aselected one of said call log phone calls is selected from said list ofcall log phone calls, display at least part of a listing compiled forthe phone number associated with the selected one of said call log phonecalls that includes every one of said phone calls having call relatedinformation stored in said memory that was placed to and received fromthe phone number.
 12. The handheld electronic device according to claim11, said list including call log information for each one of said calllog phone calls, said call log information for said each one of saidcall log phone calls including a date and time of said one of said calllog phone calls.
 13. The handheld electronic device according to claim11, said list including call log information for each one of said calllog phone calls, said call log information for said each one of saidcall log phone calls including the phone number associated with said oneof said call log phone calls.
 14. The handheld electronic deviceaccording to claim 11, said memory storing an address book applicationstoring a plurality of contact names, said list including call loginformation for each one of said call log phone calls, said call loginformation for said each one of said call log phone calls including atleast one of the phone number associated with said one of said call logphone calls and one of said contact names.
 15. The handheld electronicdevice according to claim 11, said memory storing an address bookapplication storing a plurality of contact names and associated contactphone numbers, said list including call log information for each one ofsaid call log phone calls, said call log information for said each oneof said call log phone calls including: (i) the contact name associatedwith the phone number associated with said one of said call log phonecalls if the phone number associated with said one of said call logphone calls matches one of said contact phone numbers, and (ii) thephone number associated with said one of said call log phone calls ifthe phone number associated with said one of said call log phone callsdoes not match one of said contact phone numbers.
 16. The handheldelectronic device according to claim 11, said list listing said call logphone calls in chronological order beginning with the most recent ofsaid call log phone calls.
 17. The handheld electronic device accordingto claim 11, said one or more applications being further adapted toenable a user to select one of the call log phone calls using said inputapparatus and to display on said display portions of the call relatedinformation for the selected call log phone call, said potions includingat least one of the date, time, and duration of and the phone numberassociated with the selected one of the call log phone calls.
 18. Thehandheld electronic device according to claim 11, each said listingbeing in chronological order beginning with the most recent of saidphone calls included in said listing.
 19. The handheld electronic deviceaccording to claim 11, said one or more applications being furtheradapted to, when one of said listings is displayed, enable the user toselect one of the phone calls on said displayed listing using said inputapparatus, to display on said display a menu of user options for saidselected one of the phone calls on said displayed listing, to enable theuser to select one of the user options using said input apparatus and toperform a function associated with the selected one of the user options.20. The handheld electronic device according to claim 11, said one ormore applications being further adapted to enable a user to select oneof the call log phone calls using said input apparatus, to display onsaid display a menu of user options for the selected one of the call logphone calls, to enable the user to select one of the user options and toperform a function associated with the selected one of the user options.